1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to bow hunting for game animals and more particularly to the use of a detachable device used in combination with an arrow-mounted locating device to track and locate a wounded animal.
2. Description of Prior Art
Arrow-mounted tracking devices, and in particular arrow-mounted transmitting devices, are well known in the industry. Several devices have been developed for tracking and locating game animals that have been wounded by bow hunters. These devices range from trailing a string or thread from an arrow, releasing paint or smoke from an arrow, and equipping an arrow with an electronic transmitting device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,612, dated Nov. 3, 1987, to Dan D. Boy, and reissued as U.S. Pat. No. Re.33,470, dated Dec. 4, 1990, discloses a method and apparatus for tracking an animal using an electronic transmitting device contained within an arrow shaft. While the Boy invention is an improvement over mechanical devices, such as arrows trailing string or thread which can become tangled or broken and which have limited range, and over chemical devices, such as paint or smoke emitting arrows which can be difficult to follow through thick underbrush or may be dispersed by wind, it nevertheless has a significant drawback. Modern compound and recurve bows used to hunt deer, bear, turkey, and other game animals typically shoot an arrow completely through the game animal at ranges of up to 45 yards. If the arrow passes completely through the game animal, which is the preferred method for killing a game animal with an arrow, the transmitting device will not work to track the wounded animal, but will merely provide the location of the spent arrow. U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,467, dated Aug. 29, 1995, to Eugene M. Willett, which discloses a detachable dart affixed to the exterior of an arrow and containing a transmitting device, which dart detaches from the arrow and remains attached to the wounded animal upon impact, theoretically avoids the disadvantage of the Boy invention but introduces another deficiency in that the size, weight, and position of the externally attached dart (along with its required counterweight) negatively impacts the flight of the arrow and reduces the accuracy of the arrow""s flight, making it an unattractive alternative to a bow hunter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,442, dated Dec. 11, 1990, to Woodrow L. Treadway, discloses an apparatus in which a transmitting device is located within the hollow shaft of an arrow and is removable therefrom through a notch cut into the arrow shaft, such that upon impact with an animal the transmitting device remains attached to the wounded animal irrespective of the ultimate location of the spent arrow. The Treadway apparatus, by enclosing the bulk of the removable transmitting device within the arrow shaft, does not, in theory, cause the severe degree of negative impact to the flight of the arrow and the corresponding reduction in the accuracy of the arrow""s flight seen in the Willett invention; however, the notch cut into the arrow shaft requires archery hunters to use specially designed arrow shafts, at increased cost, rather than their preferred model, and the loss of a spent arrow which has passed through an animal entails the loss of the expensive custom designed shaft. The device claimed herein seeks to reduce these deficiencies.
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved detachable device for use with an arrow-mounted locating device which is designed to attach the locating device to a game animal upon impact when the arrow passes through the animal, while minimizing the impact of the detachable device and locating device on the flight of the arrow, and allowing bow hunters to use their preferred model of arrow shaft rather than an expensive custom designed arrow shaft.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a device for removing a locating device contained within the hollow shaft of an arrow from the arrow and securing the locating device to a game animal, comprising a detachable nock having a nock body, a vertical notch to receive a bow string, an attachment component for removably attaching the detachable nock to the arrow shaft, an anchor component for fixedly attaching the locating device to the detachable nock, and a retention component for securing the detachable nock to the game animal, whereby the retention component engages and lodges into the game animal and in combination with the anchor component removes the locating device from the arrow and secures the locating device to the game animal.
This aspect may include one or more of the following features: the attachment component having a substantially cylindrical or tapered shape to be removably attached to the arrow shaft directly or into an adapter fitted into the arrow shaft; the anchor component having a loop attached to the attachment component to which is attached an anchor wire which in turn is attached to the locating device; the anchor component having an aperture through the attachment component, with or without side channels, through which the anchor wire is passed and which in turn is attached to the locating device; the anchor component having an aperture passing through the front and out the top of the attachment component and an anchor bead situated within the aperture and in connection with the anchor wire which in turn is attached to the locating device; the anchor component having interlocking parts allowing for quick and simple attachment and detachment of the detachable nock to the locating device; the anchor wire serving as an antenna for the locating device; the retention component having one or more fixed hooks for engaging and lodging into the target; the retention component having one or more hinged hooks for engaging and lodging into the target; the retention component having one or more barb guards; the retention component having one or two flexing hooks situated within a hook slot formed within the nock body with the hook barbs pointed forward and concealed within the slot until force of contact pushes the barbs out of the slot to engage the target; the retention component having a pivoting grabber employing one or more grabbing arms which are concealed within a slot until engaged upon impact with the target, whereupon the grabbing arms pivot to extend beyond the slot to engage and lodge into the target; the retention component having a grabbing arm consisting of a barbed hook; the retention component having a pivoting grabber employing grabbing arms which are twisted along their longitudinal axes such that the twisted shape of the grabbing arms cause the entire detachable nock to spin when the grabbing arms are extended to the open position; the retention component being integrated into the nock body; and the retention component being integrated into an extension inserted between the nock body and the attachment component.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a device for removing a locating device contained within the hollow shaft of an arrow from the arrow and securing the locating device to a game animal, comprising a detachable nock having a nock body, a vertical notch to receive a bow string, and an attachment component for removably attaching the detachable nock to the arrow shaft, a retention device for securing the locating device to the game animal, and an anchor component for attaching the locating device to the retention device, whereby the retention device engages and lodges into the game animal and in combination with the anchor component removes the locating device from the arrow and secures the locating device to the game animal.
This aspect may include one or more of the following features: the retention device having one or more removable hooks situated alongside the attachment component of the detachable nock and held in position between the attachment component and the interior of the arrow shaft; the removable hooks having barbed ends directed forward toward the arrow head; and the detachable nook having one or more channels or slots to accommodate the shafts of the removable hooks.
In another aspect, the invention uses a guidance component to guide the locating device cleanly out of the arrow shaft.
Other features and advantages of the invention are described below.